Mallory Ulaszek
Co-Founder / Week of the Website
Chicago, IL / Mexico City, Mexico
www.malloryulaszek.com www.weekofthewebsite.com
instagram @malloryulaszek
Twitter
YouTube
Q What do you do?
“I’m Mallory, a voracious learner who leads with curiosity & likes to get their hands dirty.”
More specifically, I am a professional at self-employment and currently a web design agency runner and consultant. I have held the titles of CEO, CFO, CMO to name a few. I specialize in ideating, innovating and building systems and structures to bring dreams (and organizations) to life. Other things that light me up? Photography, charcoal sketching and painting, loving on my dog Dexter, and living a nomadic life.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
I have owned multiple businesses over the last 15 years. I started in fashion and retail with my own clothing stores. From there I decided I wanted to focus more on creative work and formed a web design and large scale production agency with my best friend, Kelsey Gilbert Kreiling. We spent a few years producing everything from non-profit events to multi-day food festivals, but eventually chose to focus full time on building our web design agency, Week of the Website.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
We lead with joy in everything we do. From our discovery calls with clients to the way we celebrate birthdays virtually, we believe that joy is something there needs to be a whole lot more of in the world. After all, there is no such thing as a design emergency. We also focus on being open-books for our community at large, sharing information and shortcuts however we can. Finally, we just generally give a shit. We care about our clients work, our employees and contractors and ourselves, so we prioritize working with folks with goodness to share.
Q What are you working on right now?
Outside of Week of the Website, I am writing my first book - a guide for equitable access to information for entrepreneurs on their own terms using their individual talents. I want it to be short, $10, and include as many shortcuts for folks as possible. I have been writing this book for the last 15 years in my brain and am excited to finally put pen to paper. My goal is to self-publish in 2024.
Q What’s your style?
I like bold designs of the 60's and 70's referencing Italian graphic and everyday design, as I am Italian myself. I also like to merge this with a sort of tongue and cheek coyness (like the winky face i have tattooed on the back of my neck), and a little bit of psychedelia. The best representation of this I have is my own personal website malloryulaszek.com
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
Charcoal art. I love using mediums with natural roots. Using my hands and charcoal to draw on paper is meditative and grounding.
Q What is frustrating you right now?
I am always trying to break the rule book. Especially that which defines how I should grow my company. I do not feel the ideas of scaling and growing apply to the sort of work culture we want to foster for the future. If the American success story is all about achievement I want to steer us back to a story of enjoyment. It's easy to get stuck here and it is easy to sell out here - but growing slowly and mindfully is the hard road we choose.
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
Help me keep my thoughts organized so that I could review them on a weekly basis and move more ideas from ideation to completion.
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
I wish I could tell myself in college that I need to focus less on a successful career and more on redefining what success is for me personally and not what it means to the world at large. I knew even back then that I lived and held myself to different standards. I would want to tell myself to have the courage to keep on the path that brought me the most joy.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
I'd love to talk to a woman founder to hear more about how they support their life at large along with owning a business.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
Creatives who want websites on Squarespace! We specialize in bringing really fun ideas to life. Personally, I consult with all times of folks for marketing, business development, and operational needs.
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
I love when a group of thinkers and makers get together to combine their skills and backgrounds to create something really collaborative and unique. For example, I once worked with a chef and artist to create a tamale "windchime-esque" installation in a tree at a public park.
Q What is your rate?
Our web projects start at $5900 and scale up from there with complexity and page numbers. My consulting engagements start at a 2 month engagement with a $3000/mo retaining fee. I do take on short term (1 mo or less) pro-bono projects for folks when I have the time - usually about 3x a year.
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
Send me a note through the contact form on www.malloryulaszek.com
Q Who is a creative you admire?
Alex Lucke! She is my go to designer for web and graphics and collaborates with me on a lot of projects!
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Long walks outside and visits to art museums!
This member profile was originally published in April 2023